Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Yoenis Cespedes homered and the Oakland Athletics defeated the Seattle Mariners, 2-0, in the finale of Wednesday's doubleheader.
Jed Lowrie went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Derek Norris also supplied two hits as the A's snapped a three-game losing streak, which included a 6-4 loss in 10 innings earlier Wednesday.
Drew Pomeranz (2-1), who made his first start of the season, spun five innings of scoreless ball, surrendering just two hits with no walks while fanning five batters.
Oakland's bullpen was spectacular, allowing just one hit in four innings of relief. Dan Otero, who pitched at the end of the opener, allowed the only other hit in three innings of work. Jim Johnson took the mound in the ninth and retired the Mariners in order to ensure the victory with his second save of the season.
"We were in a little rough spell...so it was good to split the doubleheader and leave on a high note," Otero said.
Seattle's offense went cold in the finale. Robinson Cano, Justin Smoak, and Kyle Seager accounted for the team's three hits with one apiece.
"It would have been nice (to sweep the doubleheader) but we're playing decent right now," Mariners second baseman Willie Bloomquist said.
Erasmo Ramirez (1-4) was tagged with the loss after giving up two runs on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts over six frames.
The A's opened the scoring in the third. Craig Gentry singled with two outs and scored from first on Lowrie's blooper to shallow left that three Mariners could not track down.
Cespedes crushed a fastball over the left-field wall to make it a 2-0 game in the fourth.
Game Notes
Cano and Smoak both extended their hitting streaks to six games ... Both teams went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position ... Seattle has split its last six doubleheaders ... This was the Athletics' third shutout of the season. They also shut out the Mariners, 3-0, on April 13.
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